Sunday, January 11, 1998Last modified at 3:46 a.m. on Sunday, January 11, 1998

Balloonist ready for another shot at circling globe

By MIGUEL NAVROT

Associated Press

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) - Although the third aroundthe-world balloon attempt to fail in eight days was the shortest and injured both men aboard, pilot Dick Rutan says he's ready to go again.

"This is the last aviation milestone there is, and it's attainable. You just have to get off your tail and do it," Rutan said hours after parachuting to a cactus-studded New Mexico desert Friday.

But reaching that milestone has been anything but easy for Rutan and copilot Dave Melton - or for any of the other teams hoping to cash in on a $1 million ballooning prize offered by Budweiser. Balloonists Steve Fossett and Kevin Uliassi both launched attempts Jan. 1. Fossett went the farthest, coming to earth in Russia on Monday. Uliassi, who took off near Rockford, Ill., landed 145 miles away in Indiana three hours later.

Rutan and Melton also flew about three hours but got only 110 miles. They launched the 170-foot Global Hilton balloon just before sunrise here Friday. By 9 a.m., a tear in an inner helium sac forced them to bail out.

They parachuted from 11,000 feet in 45 mph winds onto snowcrusted rangeland. Melton, 39, dislocated a hip crashing into the only fence for miles around and was hospitalized in Albuquerque.

Rutan, 59, was dragged into cholla cactus and was still removing cactus spines after the news conference.

"I landed real hard, drug quite a bit," Rutan said, adding he had cactus in his back, legs, face and right hand.

But he said: "It was a lot better than landing in the middle of Russia."

Despite his injuries, Melton was in good spirits at University Hospital, relatives said.

The tear in the balloon was detected around 7:30 a.m., an hour after liftoff.

"I heard a boom," said Rutan. "I didn't want to hear that. I looked up, saw the helium balloon ripping and really didn't want to see that. We had to make the decision, and we decided to jump."

Melton, who jumped first, told him: "Now, don't fall on me," he said.

Rutan landed about a quarter-mile away.

It was the third emergency parachute jump for Rutan, an ex-Air Force pilot. The first was from an F-100 over North Vietnam in 1968, the second from a jet over England.

But this was his first jump from a balloon.

Afterward, the balloon sailed on to Texas, occasionally hitting the ground before landing near Gainesville, about 45 miles north of Dallas.

In the process, it dragged across power lines, and a small fire was started and extinguished, Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Les Dorr said in Washington, D.C. He said the balloon came to rest at 5:38 p.m. MST.

The Air Force had sent up chase planes to keep watch for awhile, but a police helicopter took up the chase at the lower altitudes, Dorr said.

The National Transportation Safety Board and FAA will investigate the flight, he